The Sun. — London, England, 1864-04-22 00:00:00

General Garibaldi, Yrett2rday morning the members of the Reform Club lad the honour of entertaining the great Italian General at luncheon in the large saloon of the club. The fact of his intended visit appeared to b 3 well known, and a large crowd collected to see 'Garibaldi pass down Pall-mall. The entrance to fee club and the saloon were filled with lathes who wished to see the great guest as he proceeded to the banquet, while in the room where the de. jeuner was laid M. Jullien's band was stationed, with the leaders of the chorus of Her Majesty's Theatre. The room was beautifully decorated, and when the company, to the number of 200, were seated the scene was exceedingly animated. Lord Ebury presided, and at the conclusion of the repast, and when the customary and loyal toasts had been given with all the honours, he gave the health of the guest of the day, amid loud and continued cheer. ing. In proposing the toast Lord Ebury said,— We, gentlemen, are assembled together because we are admirers of liberty, and we are so beeause we believe that liberty promotes the best interests of mankind. We believe also that one of the greatest curses that can befall a coun try is war, and, therefore, we are promoters of peace. But there is one curse that we think is even more 'terrible than war, and that is despotism, whether it be a de spotism of Kings, of Lords, or of Commons ; and if there were cause we should be as ready as our ancestors to draw the sword and shed our blood in defence of the principles Of our country. We have, therefore, General,watched your ca • reer from its commencement to its zenith. Judge for your self, General, what our feelings may be when we see him of whom we have heard so much bodily in our presence. (Cheers.) There is one quality which I hope I may venture to claim for my countrymen, and that is that we are a reli gious people. By that I mean that we believe that there is a superintending Providence over all things both in heaven and on earth, It was, therefore, General, our first act,when we heard of your great deeds, to offer up thanksgiving to the Great Almighty that he had been pleased to raise up such a man to perform such deeds. But this, General, does not prevent us from honouring the instrument on earth. (Cheers.) Far from it. The same book which inapires the former sentiment tells us to give honour to whom honour is due. Thus it is, General, that you have received that con tinual, hearty, and enthusiastic welcome which scarcely, I fear, leaves you time for repose, but which may, perhaps, fatiguing as it is, have afforded you some little compensa • tion for the life of toil, of danger, and suffering which you have undergone for your country, and which also may make a little compensation for some apparent ingratitude from a quarter whence that ingratitude was least to be expected. (Hear.) But, sir,what generous mind would not appreciate, how much more then your own would not duly appreciate, the spontaneous . applause of a free, happy, and a Christian people ? (Hear, hear.) General, I have but a few more re marks to make—forgive me if I am obliged to address them somewhat personally. You have displayed very rare, very daring, and vtry unusual qualities for your country's good, How many examples are there of men who have struggled ardently, who have fought and bled for their country, who have endured reverses and sufferings with unshaken forti tude, but who, when the time of prosperity came, have lost their equilibrium, sullied their fair fames, and done irreparable injury to the enterprise in which they first em barked I You, General, have shown that you have the power of self-denial in whatever position you may be• (Cheers.) I believe that history affords no example of a man whose constancy has been so tried. 'What it has ccst you, General, to resist the many temptations that have come to you no one but yourself can know; but we owe you a debt of gratitude for having given the world such a name as yours. (Cheers.) 'We regret that we must no longer prolong the pleasure which your presence here causes us. We know, alas I that your stay in this country is numbered not by days, but by hours. (No, no, no,) At all events you have much to do. (Near, hear, and cheers.) But I will say, on the part cf those gentlemea whom I have the honour to re present, that our heart's desire is that it may please God to Watch over your health and grant you a speedy recovery, in order that you may be enabled to devote the influence of your good name and your powers to that cause which is as yet far froni cchieved—(prolonged cheers)--al cause that will require all the perseverance, all the courage, all the counsel, all the wisdom of all the patriotic children of your Country—that cause for which you are ready to lay down your life—the salvation and regeneration of Italy. (Pro longed cheering.) I propose the health of our illustrious guest. The toast was then drunk amid great cheering, which continued for some minutes. When it had subsided the chorus of her Majesty's Theatre, led by Signor Arditi, sang the Garibaldi Hymn with beautiful precision and effect. At its conclusion Garibaldi rose, amid prolonged applause, and said : My Lords and Gentlemen,--My gratitude to you for the great sympathy you have for me I think is very great; but I cannot express my feelings of gratitude for your kind sympathy to my poor country. (The members here cheered, and then came a pause for 801113 minutes). lam almost an Englishman now—(cheers repeated)—and certainly I am very proud to be so, and I invite you to a toast—" To the prosperity of my adopted country ;" and I pray you to ieceive my thanks for your kindness. Never in my life will I forget the kindness I have received in this illustrious association. The " Health of the President" was next proposed by Mr. Gore Langton, M.P., to which Lord Ebury made a brief response, which brought the proceed ings to a close. General Garibaldi was then escorted from the club by the President, the Duke of Suther land, and the principal members of the club. He was warmly received by the company in the saloon, and loudly cheered by the crowd as he left and returned along Pall Mall. The General visited the House of Commons yes terday afternoon, accompanied by Mr. Seely. He sat on the front bench under the gallery. Of course, there ayes no expression of feeling, although for some minutes he was the observed of all observers. After remaining about a quarter of an hour, he pro ceeded to the House of Lords. The General was conducted by Sir Augustus Clifford, bearing the Black Rod, through the Peers' library and the private apartments of the Gentleman Usher, and afterwards entered the House of Lords accompanied by the Earl of Shaftesbury. He was led by Sir A. Clifford to the space within the railing at the foot of the Throne. He bowed slightly to their lord. ships, and afterwards shook hands with the Bishop of Oxford and the Earl of Harrowby. Earl Russell left the Treasury Bench, and, after warmly greeting the General, engaged him for a few moments in conversation. The General did not remain in the House of Peers more than five minutes, and then proceeded to the Prince's Chamber, the sculpture and portraits in which he passed a few minutes in examining. Oa leaving the Houses of Parliament the General returned to his carriage and took the route over Westminster Bridge to Fishmongers' Hall. In the evening the Company of Fishmongers entertained the General at dinner in their stately corporate hall at the north end of London Bridge, and afterwards conferred upon him the honorary freedom of their order, enclosed in a handsome gold box, studded with precious stones, of the value of 100 guineas. Covers were laid for 150 guests, many of whom were ladies, and the banquet was served with all the sumptuous magni ficence which has always characterised the hospi tality of the guild of Fishmongers. The Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, the Duchess of Suther land, the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, and the Earl and Countess of Shaftesbury honoured the company with their presence on the occasion, and among the rest of the visitors were Vice- Chancellor Sir W. Page Wood and Lady Wood, Sir Rowland and Lady Hill, Lady Easthope, Sir S. M. Peto, M.p., and Lady Peto, Sir Edward Dering, -M.P. , Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, the Dean of Ripon, Miss Oust, an d M rs . Goode, Col. and Mrs. Chambers, Cal. Elsey, Mr. Seely, M.P., and Mrs. Seely, Major Snell, Captain Forbes, R.N., Captain Robert and Mrs. Robert Richardson, Alderman and Miss Lawrence, Mr. C. C. Trevor and Mrs. Trevor, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Wykeham Martin, Mr. D. Loveless and Mrs. Loveless, Mr. Harvey Lewis N.Y., a nd Mrs. Lewis, Mr. J. J. Tweed, Mr. Barnes: M.P., Mr. S. Olding, the Chairman of the Union Society, Mr. and Mrs. P. Northall Laurie, Mr. F. Leighton, ILA., Captain Grant, Mr. Fenton, de puty chairman of the Great Western Railway Com pany, and Mr. R. G. Underdown. For some time before the General arrived a crowd had assembled in front of the ball to catch a glimpse of him, and on his making his appear ance, which he did shortly after 6 o'clock, he was received at the entrance by the Wardens of the Company, beaded by Mr. James Weston, their chief, and conducted to the drawing-room, where most of the guests had by that time assembled, the band of the Grenadier Guards playing the " Garibaldi Hymn." As usual the General wore the gray c 3 Pt° familiar to all who have seen him in this country and elsewhere. About 7 o'clock the guosts sat down to dinner, which was served in the Great Hill, Mr. Weston, the Prime Warden, occupying the chair. The General conducted the Dowager Duchess of Suther land to her seat, and then took his own, which was on the left of her Grace and on the right of the Prime Warden. The Duchess of Sutherland sat immediately on the left of the chair, and the Duke and Duchess of Argyll and the Earl and Countess of Shaftesbury on either hand of the Prime Warden. On the removal of the cloth the Loving Cup was passed round the board, and then the PRIMEIWARDEN gave in succession the toasts of " The Queen" and "The Prince and Princess of Wales, with the rest of the Royal Family," which were received with every mark of respect. The Prince of Wales happens to be an honorary member of the company, and a smile was occasioned by his royal highness being described, in the customary language of the guild, as "our brother fishmonger" on his health being proposed from the chair. The PRIME WARDEN said he had next to propose what was in every sense the toast of the evening— the health of their illustrious guest, Gen. Garibaldi. (Cheers.) Disclaiming all intention to give to their meeting the character of a political demonstration, they desired at the same time to show their appre ciation of the high qualities of the General as a hero, a patriot, and an enlightened and consistent sup porter of liberty in every sense. By the magic of his name alone, greater and more enduring benefits had been achieved for his country than the great Napoleon had ever achieved with all his vast armies. To the General self was nothing, his country every thing, and that was the true secret of his fame. (Hear, hear.) The Prime Warden proceeded to mention a circumstance to the credit of the General, not generally known, he believed, and which had come under his notice last year when in Naples. The General, he said, when Dictator, had presented a site in that city worth about £2,000 on which to build an English church, and the decree confirming the gift, and which was drawn up in his own hand, recited that he had been moved to make the gift in consideration of the generous sympathy evinced by the English people in the cause of Italy. The toast was drunk with acclamation. Gen. GARIBALDI, speaking in English,expressed his gratitude briefly for all the kindness and consi deration shown him by the English people, and particularly for their sympathy with his country. England, he added, was the home of freedom and the hope of slaves in all the world. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, in responding to the toast of " The honorary members of the Company," of whom he is one, said on that occasion honorary membership was converted into a reality when they found it coupled with the illustrious and beloved name of General Garibaldi, of whom for a long time few Englishmen would be able to speak with out emotion, as a man who represented in himself all the virtues and qualities that adorned human nature, and who combined the loftiest and most disinterested patriotism with a simplicity of cha racter and a modesty of demeanour never yet united in one single man. And to what was all that due ? Not simply to commanding intellect, but to what God had given him, an immense and profound heart, or, as was said in Scripture of that of Solomon, " a heart es vast as the sands of the sea." He was happy in having an opportunity to express in public the heartfelt love he entertained for his character, and he would aay for the people of England that the name of Garibaldi would be a household word among them for all time. (Cheers.) The PRIME 'WARDEN, in complimentary terms, then proposed as a toast " The Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, the Duchess of Sutherland, the Duchess of Argyll, and the Ladies," The Duke of ARGYLL, whose name was coupled with the toast, said it had been a source of pride and pleasure to the ladies there as elsewhere to associate themselves with the reception which had been given by all classes of the people of this coun try to the extraordinary and illustrious man who was their guest that n;ght. That sense of honour and pleasure, ho added, was founded on a deep par ticipation on the part of the ladies of this country in both those feelings, which,like two great streams, had resulted in a mighty river, or, as Tennyson ex pressed it, "a perfect tumult of acclaim," first for the completed freedom of the Italian people, and, secondly, for the extraordinary and singularly pure and noble character of the man who had done so much to achieve that freedom, Some of the best er.►its and features of our own national character would have indeed decayed if ever the day came when the entire devotion of ench a character to such a cause should cease to elicit from the English people of all racks tke utmost expression of their admiration and their homage. (Cheers.) The toast of " The Visitors" was then drunk, and Vicc-Chancellor Sir Page Wood having responded to it, the whole of the company left the Great Hall and proceeded to the drawing-room. There each of the guests ware presented to the General, who re ceived them seated, a ceremony which lasted some considerable time. The General then returned with the Prime Warden, Wardens, and Court of Assis tants to the Great Hall, where the honorary freedom of the Company was presented to him, " in testi mony of their appreciation of his exalted patriotism, his distinguished valour, and his eminent services in the cause of civil and religious liberty." The Prime Warden, i❑ a brief address, enumerated the names of many illustrious personages which adorned the Company's roll of honorary citizenship, and he ex pressed the pleasure it now afforded the governing body to add that of the General himself. The docu ment conferring the freedom elegantly emblazoned was contained in a gold box richly chased on all sides. At each corner were stars of diamonds on blue enamelled ground, and in the centre the Fishmongers' arms engraved within a border of blue enamel. It was made by Mr. Hancock of Bruton street. General Garibaldi, in acknowledging the gift, said :—" I am certainly proud to belong to this noble company. I will keep this box as the talis man of my future career in the service of the liberty of the people, and I shall be very grateful to you all my life." With that the ceremony ended, and shortly after wards the General, accompanied by the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, the Duchess of Sutherland, and the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, took his de. parture, and as he did so was enthusiastically cheered by the crowd outside, Most of the com pany remained afterwards to dance in the Great Hall. The Duke of Sutherland's Screw Steam Yacht Ondine arrived at Plymouth yesterday morning, and is gone to Millbay to fill up with coal. She will proceed probably to-day, either to Looe or Fowey, to embark Garibaldi for conveyance to Ciprera after his visit to Penquite, the seat of Colonel Peard, in Cornwall is concluded. MEETING OF THE WORKING MEN'S COMMITTEE. A special meeting of the Working Men's Reception Com mittee was held last night at the Whittington Club, Mr R. Gray, mason, in the chair, to consider the final decision of General Garibaldi as to leaving England. About 100 delegates were present, and Messrs Plimsoll, Nicholay, Shaen, Morris. and Taylor attended as a deputation from the City Committee. Mr TAYLOR, a member of the deputation, reported the reply of Garibaldi to the deputation as follows: 4, P r i n c e 's gate, Kensington, April 21. " Dear Friends,—Pray accept my heartfelt thanks for your sympathy and affection. I shall be happy to see you again on a better occasion, when it will be possible for me to enjoy at leisure the hospitality of your noble country. For the present I feel obliged to leave England. Again and again my gratitude to you all, "Mr J. Richardson." " G. GARIBALDI, He stated that a strong resolution of indignation had beet. adopted by the City Comtnittee on the receipt of that letter, considering that the word used in the letter " obliged," was a convincing proof that undue pressure had bun used on the General to hurry his departure. The City Committee were prepared to co-operate with the Working Men's Committee in any action they might take upon the matter. After considerable discussion, in the course of which much indignation. was expressed at the course taken by some per son or persons in causing the General to leave England, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted Proposed by Mr POTTER, seconded by Mr GROSSMITH— " That this committee has ascertained that General Garibaldi is in very good health, and that the cause of his intended departure is not illness, but pressure exercised on him by members and adherents of the Government, and especially by Mr Gladstone." Proposed by Mr TRI:ILETT, and seconded by Mr PETIEERIDGE— " That this committee looks on this attempt of the go verning classes to expel an illustrious guest of the nation as a scandal to this country and a violation of all the principles of freedom; and it repudiates any such culpable subser vience to Royal dictation, at home or abroad." Proposed by Mr, WIEAss, seconded by Mr. MILDRED:— " That this committee resolves on organising a series of public demonstrations to express the indignation of the working men of London at this insult offered to their great representative." Proposed by Mr. POTTER, and seconded by Mr. TRIM. LETT :-- " That the first public meeting be held on Primrose-hill on Saturday afternoon next, at five o'clock." Proposed by Mr. CREMER, and seconded by Mr. ODGERS : " That this committee put itself into communication with all the working men's societies in this metropolis and in thn provinces." A deputation was then appointed to carry a copy of the resolutions to Mr. Gladstone at the House of Commons, and copies were also sent to Mr. Seely, M.P., and to Gen, Garibaldi. The meeting then adjourned. Stratford-on-Avon Tercentenary Festival, STRATrORD-ON-AVON, Wednesday Night, The weather is superb, but visitors have not as yet begun to arrive in any great number. Some ex citement, however, has been caused by the issue of the official programme, which was first sold to-day. It is very well got up, and is adorned with, inter alia, a capital woodcut of the house in which Shaks pere was born. Besides the announcement of the amusements that are to begin on Saturday, it con tains a description of the local objects of interest, with a short biography of the poet, and other mat ters. But the visitor who is not thoroughly "posted" in the life of Shakspere and its illustra tion by means of the monuments preserved at Strat ford will do well to provide himself with Chambers's " Tercentenary number," which is not only very complete, but compiled with much critical acumen. It is also perfectly readable, which in the case of a professed " cram book" is remarkable. Of the three Festivals by which Shakspere has already been honoured at Stratford there does not seem to be any complete description within the reach of the general public. Some account of these will scarcely be out of place, as a sort of preface to the coming celebration. None of these three jubilees had any reference to the anniversary of Shakspere's birth. The first took place in September, 1769, when the fame of Garrick was at its height, and owed its origin to an atrocity which ardent Shakspereans can only compare with the wilful destruction of the Temple of Ephesus. New-place, the residence of Shaks pere in his latter days, had been purchased of the executors of its last owner, Sir Hugh Clopton (who died in 1751), by a luckless clergyman, named Gastrell, who little thought he was thus taking the first step towards universal execra tion. The famous mulberry tree, planted by Shaks pere's own hand, flourished in the garden of New. place, and attracted a large concourse of visitors. Annoyed by the intrusion of these devotees, the Rev. Gastrell, who ardently loved quiet, but was singularly mistaken as to the best means of obtain ing it, cut the tree down. It was immediately pur ch by a tradesman, who at once converted it into small fancy articles, and sold them as memo rials of the past. These trinkets were eagerly sought about the middle of last century, and one of the choicest, a handsome carved snuffbox, is now pre served in the room of Shakspere's birthplace, set apart as a museum. As for the Rev. Gastrell, he went on from bad to worse, proceeding from a crime to a blunder. He razed New-place to the ground, but in so doing he in no respect insulted the memory of Shakspere, as in the case of the mulberry tree ; for Sir John Clopton, another Vandal, father to Sir Hugh, had been in the fietcl before him, having pulled down Shakspere's house and built anott er in its stead. Thus Gastrell was a sort of unwilling Nemesis in the cause of the poet, for, as Clopton had demolished the house of Shakspere, so did Gastrell demolish the house of Clopton. The wicked clergy man, however, meant mischief, and therefore is not entitled to the credit of going to perdition on the proverbial pavemer tof good intentions. Stratford was too hot to ho:d him,and he fled—probably into infinite space, leaving all rightminded persons to regret that he had not shared the fate of Orpheus and John de Witt. Garrick being the great Shaksperian actor of the day, the corporation of Stratford thought it would be a graceful compliment to send him the freedom of their town in a box made of the dese crated mulbt rry tree. The actor, pleased with the compliment, at once formed a scheme for a grand jubilee, to be held at Stratford, and when he closed Drury-lane in the summer of 1769 he delivered an epilogue, in which ho thus took leave of the audience : "My eyes till then (the next season) no sights like this will see, Unless we Inset at Shakspere's Jubilee. On Avon's banks, where flowers eternal blow, Like its full stream, our gratitude shall flow. There let us revel, show our fond regard. On that loved spot first breathed our matchless bard. To him all honour, gratitude is due, To him we owe our all--to him and you." This, of course, was intended as an invitation to Stratford, where preparations were soon made fur the coming Festival. An amphitheatre, decorated with various devices, was erected on the model of the Ranelagh Rotunda, and was doubtless the origin of the present Pavilion. Transparencies represent ing Shaksperean characters were made for the win dows of the Town-hall; and as Victor, the chief historian of the event, remarks with admirable naivete, " A very small da.d house, in which this great poet was born, was covered with a curious transparency; the subject was the sun struggling through clouds to enlighten the world in which was figuratively delineated the low circumstances of Shakspere, from which his strength of genius raised him to become the glory of his country !" A very small house, which looks so humble with its indefi nite article, is now the most noted object in all Warwickshire. The Festival began on the 6th of September. Several pieces of cannon were discharged at day break, and shortly afterwards a troop of singers in masquerade habits appeared in the streets with guitars to serenade the principal visitors to the Jubilee. At 9 o'clock (people kept early hours in those days) a public breakfast was held at the Town hall, where Garrick, who acted as steward, and arrived before the company, was presented by the Mayor with a medallion of Shakspere, carved on a piece of the mulberry tree, and richly set iu gold. At ha f •past 10 the breakfast being over, the com pany proceeded to the church, where the oratorio of " Judith" was performed under the conduct of Dr. Arne. From the church everybody went to the Amphitheatre, where an elegant dinner was served for 600 or 700 persons. A ball, which opened soon after 10 o'clock, and a general illumination wound up the first day, which did not practically terminate till three in the morning, On ihe 7th there was another breakfast at the Town-hall, and there was to have been a pageant or procession of Shaksperian characters, but the rain prevented this portion of the entertainment. An ode written by Garrick was delivered in the Amphitheatre, where there was again a dinner at 4 o'clock, the chief delicacy served on the occasion being a turtle of 1501 b. weight. Fireworks on the other side of the Avon were to have amused the populace, but the rain was not more merciful to them than it had been to the procession. More suc cessful was a masquerade, which took place in the evening, the most conspicuous figure of which was James Boswell, attired in a Corsican habit, with pistols at his belt, a musket at his back, and the words " Paoli and Liberty" iescrit , ed in gold letters on the front of his cap. He intended to deliver a poetical address, but was prevented by the crowd. Indeed, disappointment seems to have been the order of the day at the Stratford Jubilee of 1769. On the Bth there was more breakfasting and dining in the Amphitheatre, but the distinctive feature of the day was a race between five colts, at which "Pratt the groom," who rode his own horse, won a cup worth £5O. Pratt declared his resolution never to part with the prize, though, as ho honestly avowed, " he knew very little about plays or Mas ter Shakspere." The night of this third day was fine and the fireworks went off without let or hindrance. This account of the jubilee of 1769 is derived im mediately from " Victoeti History of the Theatres of THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 22, 1864. London," published in 1771. In a minor detail or two it will be found to differ from the summary de scription given in Cassell's official programme issued to-day. The author of the programme gives the third day as that on which the appointed pageant ought to have taken place, whereas Victor gives the second, and he describes the delight of the populace with the fireworks on the second night, w hereas, according to Victor, the heavy rain entirely destroyed that exhibition. Perhaps his az:count may be more, accurate than mine, but at all events I have given what is deemed excellent authority. A few observations made by Victor at the conclu sion of his description show that the intellect of - Warwickshire was in a very depressed state 95 years ago. Now the humbler classes complain that a pageant has not been provided for their amusement, but it was otherwise in the tine of Garrick. They looked upon the Jubilee as an impious affair, and regarded the rain that stopped the procession and put out the fireworks as a mark of Heaven's anger. As for Garrick, they firmly believed flout he was a magician, who could and would raise the devil, and on this account many of them kept at home during the period of the festival, being afraid to stir abroad. With pyrotechnic art they were utterly unac quainted, and when they saw the black faces of the firework-makers they were inclined to believe they were the very demons with whom the magician had communication. Though in 1769 Stratford lost its pageant, Garrick did 11 o t On the 14th of October he brought it out on the stage of Drury-lane in a piece d'occa sion called the "Jubilee," which ran for upwards of 90 nights. The procession included the characters — Benedict, Beatrice, Touchstone, Richard 111., Ro meo, Hamlet, Falstaff, Lear, Antony, Portia, Apollo, and the Tragic and Comic Muses, Garrick himself representing Benedict. It is said that in the dia logue of this piece the superstition of the unedu cated classes of Stratford was ridiculed; but as the piece was never printed, and the manuscript copy was destroyed with Drury Lane in 1809, this state ment cannot easily be confirmed. However, as the piece was revived at Covent Garden in 1816, it is just possible that another manuscript exists some where. If there is such a copy, and the owner will bring it to light, he will contribute no contemptible mite to the literature of Shakaperean Festivals. THE WAR IN DENMARK. (From the 2imcs Special Correspondent with the Aned Armies.) BROACKER, April 16. The Prussian batteries are lazy this sunny fore noon, Their monotonous thunder is heard at longer intervals than has lately been the case. Yesterday, too, was a comparatively quiet day. This is in dis cord with the recent report that the bombardment was to be continued with redoubled vigour, in com pliance with the supreme injunction that the Danes are to be as much as possible damaged and their powers of defence impaired by the action of the artillery, before the lives of Prussian soldiers are risked in the assault of the entrenchments. It is generally believed here that the assault would already have taken place but for orders received from Berlin to postpone it until it could be made with the least possible loss to the besiegers, Yesterday the fire seemed, relatively speaking, to be more lively on the left than on the right, so I went in the former direction. The 6-pounder batteries, the first to the north of West Duppel, are distributed in sections of twos, at short distances from each other. They were firing at forts 7 to 9, and between them, at places where they believed Danish troops to be stationed. From these batteries I moved for ward to the advanced posts, and happened to find an acquaintance iu the officer commanding those on that part of the line, and he kindly accompanied me to the beat points for seeing the forts, to which we were able to got very near, there being a kind of cartel between the line of pickets on either side not to fire upon each other. So Prussians and Danes stood or sat in their respective pits about 50 yards apart, and officers visited them, and reliefs came and went, without a shot being fired. It seems, how ever, that the tacit convention was not sufficiently stringent to inspire full confidence. " If thoeo fel lows fire when we go forward," said the officer to his second in command as he walked away with us from his picket, " let them have it." But the fellows did not fire, as we advanced, a party of four, to a small trench dug in a field, the rearmost edge of which was covered with straw and effi>rded an excellent seat, while in front the earth of the ex cavation had been thrown up into a low parapet. There we sat and chatted and basked in the sun, and watched the blue-coated Danes standing apathetically at their posts, and had an ex• tremely near and good view of the forts, which would have seemed deserted had not a human figure now and then shown itself on their summit or in the embrasures. The earthworks bore abundant marks of shells, boles, and irregularities of surface, but for defensive purpoaes they did not seem to me one bit the worse than when their sides were smooth and their surface level. They appear to be all connected by covered ways, with what looks like a regular wall with small embrasures. In front of each fort is a line of posts, connected by strong wires, to impede the advance of the assault ing party, which it will hardly do for a moment, since the advancing troops will be provided with the necessary implements to sever the wires. rhe earthworks are certainly formidable to scale, but I doubt whether a month's bombardment would render them materially less to, judging from the little effect as yet produced by the heavy fire directed against them. If they do receive considerable damage it is evident that such damage is easily re paired. The extremely accurate and destructive fire of the Prussian artillery must destroy men and guns in the forts, but there is reason to believe that the former remain in their bomb-proofs and that most of the latter have been removed. The Danes do not fire from their forts in the day, and, when they do so at night, it has been observed that it is nearly all from one fort on one night and all from another fort on the next—now all from No. 2, then all from No. 8, and so on. The Prussians imagine, therefore, that they hav e a f e w guns which they move about from one fort to another, hoping so to blind their opponents to the fact of their having withdrawn the greater part of their heavy artillery. It is probable, however, that they will have suffi cient pieces there, when the hour of the assault shall strike, to welcome the storming party with grape, and probably they will also unmask field artillery behind the walls connecting the forts. In short, though mortars and rifled 24's and heavy teege guns do their worst during the whole time that can be expected possible to e l a p se between this and the assault, the line of b ast i ons o n D u ppel heights will still be an extremely difficult place to storm ; and it the Danes stand their ground resolutely, the loss of the Prussians must be heavy. I ha ve heard o fficers express a hope that th e loss while going over the glacis will not be he av y, for they apprehend that it the soldiers see their friends and comrades falling thickly by their sides they will become so exes perateci that little quarter will be given, and that there will be no possibility o f checking the work of slaughter when once they get into the place. We quitted our p os t of observation without a shot having b een fi re d a t us, end, while returning, the commander of the p i c ket informed us that the courtesy between the outposts was carried to such an extent that Danes and Prussians mutually sa luted each other ' s officers when these went down to visit the advanced sentries. Proceeding further north, we came to a battery of four 24 pounders. A general had just arrived oe a visit to it, and those capital guns were firing briskly, and with wonder ful accuracy, at the D _knish redoubt, just to the north of Sonderborg, of which town we obtained a capital north-westerly view. A large white building in the upper part of the town seems to have been gutted by the recent fire, at least the windows were gone and the inside looked blackened. The guns in the ree doubt, plainly visible, remained mute as shell after shell went plunging into the battery. A small house or farm a little to the Danish right had been set on fire by a shell, and was in flames. We had a good view of Alsen Sand, and distinguished some of the batteries on its opposite shore. Some distance further north another 21 pounder battery was firing across at a gunboat, I was told, lying in an inlet, but which I could not distinri'h. Towards the right, at I re turned to West Duppel, I could see the Prussians working at their new parallel, undisturbed by the enemy, who apparently fears to fire by day, on ac count of the storm of shells which is immediately di rected, with an aim that rarely errs, at the embrasure whence his shot issues. At 9 o'clock at night, as I have been informed, the work, suspended at sunset, recommenced, and was continued until 2 a.m., un molested, strange though it seems, by the Danes, until just upon its close. The officers urged their men to silence and spud, reminding them that they were within easy grape range, and that their lives hung upon a hair and depended on ther ex ertions. The soldiers worked with a will and filled their gabions in doable quick time. At last the Danes found it out—incomprehensible is it that they did not sooner do so—and opened a rattling fire of grape, bat the work was done and the parallel in a state to brave it. Its nearest point is estimated to be at only 260 paces from the forts, its furthest at 340. This is getting pretty close. It is now said that this p irallel, the fourth—reckoning the half parallel as No. 2—will be armed with short twelves smooth bores. Under these circumstances it is impossible to be lieve that the assault will be much longer deferred. I believe that if Prince Frederick Charles had his own way it would take place within 24 hours. It may be doubted whether recent delays will have been altogether as advantageous in the way of diminish ing loss of life as was expected by those who ordered them. It has given the Danes time to bring up their ships. It is not very long, if I rightly remember, since your Sonderborg correspondent mentioned that the Rolf Krake was the only ironclad the Danes had in these parts. Now we have got the Danne brog, which, although she was not in sight yester day, is not likely to have gone very far, and this morning appeared the Skiold line-of-battleship, and anchored at some distance off Schelde. Persons who observed the Dannebrog through good glasses, when she lay off Alsen, affirm that she is undoubtedly iron-plated. A considerable movement of vessels in the offing wcs just now reported to me, and it is supposed that some of them are men-of-war. Iron or no iron, it is presumable that when the supreme moment arrives the Danish naval squadron will have to play its part and run its risks. The latter will not be small if it presents itself within range of the batteries that now bristle on the shores and at the entrance of the Yenning Bund. APRIL 17. The Prussian fire continued very slack all yester• day. During the night it was heavier at intervals. The Ddb Cs fired with some effect at Parallel 2, and I hear that several men were wounded. About 11 p.m. there was some very sharp firing. This morn ing I have scarcely heard a gun ; but it is still early —a sunny, quiet, Sabbath morn, a pleasant change from yesterday, which was windy and bitterly cold with clouds ofdust flying. It is impossible to divine the tactics of the Prussian commanders, or why— being now so very close to the forts—they do not redouble their fire, if they hope thereby to render them easier to capture, or else make the assault. If they wait until - wet weather comes and the ground gets soaked and slippery it will greatly in crease the difficulties to be overcome by the storm ing party. They can hardly contemplate opening another parallel, or sapping their way up in the the Wads. Something decisive must surely soon occur; everybody is on the qui vine, and there are plenty of persons who tell you most positively that the final attack cannot be delayed beyond such or such a day. lam slow to,hazard predictions which Prussian patience and prudence might falsify. In the latest number of the limes that has reached me I see the announcement, sent from Copenhagen by telegraph, of an" attempted assault on the Dybbol entrenchments." Bastion 8 and the Danish left wing are said to have both been attacked, and both attacks cf course signally failed. It is true that the Danish Commander in-Chief merely says that bo►h wings had been "alarmed" by the enemy, and the tele graphic agency would have been nearer the mark had it kept to the same statement, instead of sacri ficing truth to sensation headings. I can only again assure you that hitherto there has been no attack whatever upon the Duppel forts with a view to storming them. I see that some papers still talk of the affiir of the 28th ult, as if it had been then in tended to assault; but I need hardly point out to you !hit, had such been the case, very different pre parations would have been made, and a powerful force would have been brought up to the front, in stead of only one regiment being there as a reserve to the two sent forward to conquer the ground re quired for the opening of a parallel. The Dance seem to dream of assaults. They may rest assured that, when one does come, it will be a very different sort of business from anything they as yet have seen. A curious adventure happened three nights ago is a company of the 60th Begiment. In the course of some skirmishing that took place it got too far forward, and, when day broke, it found itself in a slight hollow of the ground so near to Forts I and 2 that, had it attempted to return to its own lines, it must have been annihilated by the Danish grape. The shelter afforded it by the nature of the ground was so trifling that the men were obliged to lie down flat upon their bellies to avoid being shot by the Danes. In this unpleasant position they remained the whole day. It a man raised his head or arm, or made any other movement from his completely re cumbent posture, the enemy opened fire, and six were wounded in this way, and are now in hospital here. It may seem strange that the Danes did not sally out to make the company prisoners, but by doing so they would have exposed themselves to the fire of the parallels, and, moreover, might have brought on a serious conflict, as the Prussians could hardly allow their men to be captured before their eyes without making an effort to prevent it. It was not until 9 or 10 in the evening that the company, with which were a captain and two lieu tenants, succeeded, under cover of the darkness, in rejoining their friends. They had had :nothing to eat the whole time, for, although they had provi sions in their pockets or haversacks, any movement that they made to get at them exposed them to the enemy's fire. Shipbuilding on the Clyde. At no period in the history of shipbuilding on the Clyde has this branch of industry been so brisk as it is at present. Several new building yards have been opened on the banks of the Clyde this year, but nevertheless there is work enough for all. The stimulus thus imparted to the shipbuilding trade is in a great measure to be attributed to the numerous orders which builders have received from private firms and parties for steamers intended for the hazardous work of running the blockade, a stroke of good luck for which cur shipbuilders are indebted to the deplorable war raging in America. As a proof of this activity we may mention that at present there are no fewer than 42 deep-sea steamers being built for blockade running alone. Of these 15 are building at Glas gow, 4 at Whiteinch, 6 at Renfrew, 6 at Dumbarton, 2 at Port Glasgow, and 9 at Greenock, and averaging their cost at £14,000 each—and this is rather within the mark —we have thus shipping to the value of £588,000, intended for the purpose above mentioned, now iu course of construc tion. And this extensive trade is only a part of that which is going on, for there are frigates in process of building for the Turkish Government by Messrs. Robert Napier and Sons ; the Cuba and Java, magnificent screws of Macgregor, and Messrs. G. and J. Thomson, for the Cunard line; and a host of other vessels, by other builders, for India,Australia. and almost every part of the world. Towards the close of 1861 and throughout 1862, 30 vessels left the Clyde for the purpose of running the blockade, and including the steamers which have been taken up since (numbering 34), no fewer than 64 steamers have thus left the Clyde for Nassau, the value of which, it is estimated, would be fully £BOO,OOO, making a total (including those now on the stocks) of £1,388,000. Previous to 1863 11 deep-sea steamers started —viz., the Giraffe, Havelock, Leopard, Adele, Herald, Fingal, Tubal Cain, Antona, Thistle, Britannia, and the Princess Royal, six river steamers—viz,, the lona, Kelpie, Eagle, Pearl, Ruby, and Dolphin; and a number of new steamers, including the Queen of the Wave, Wave Queen, Georgians, Memphis, Cornuhia, Mino, Amelia, Corinth, Granite City, Ranger, &c. Few of the steamers which left the Clyde in 1862 and 1863 escaped the Federal men-of-war or the dangers of the ocean, but those which were fortunate enough to evade the blockading squadron have yielded, it is understood, splendid returns to their owners. The follow ing steamers have sailed from the Clyde for blockade running since the beginning of 1863 up till a fortnight age : —Emma, Ge:trude, Neptune, Mail, Jupiter, Juno, Lord Clyde, Gem, Diamond, Scotia, Star, Will-o'-the-Wisp, and Caledonia—all of which have been captured,burnt, or sunk. The Georgia, or Japan, which also left the Clyde, is en gaged privateering ; and the following are believed to be still running the blockade, viz, :—Tuskar, Spunkie, Mary Ann, General Mackenzie, Rothesay Castle, Coquette, Elvira, City of Petersburg, Presto, Dare, 'Wave Queen, Nolu, Flora, Greyhound, Minnie, Julia, Fairy, Tristram 3handa. The lona, which is included in the 34 alluded to, was wrecked on her voyage to Nassau, SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. POST.—Although we must wait a little longer for the details of the assault and capture of Duppel, we know enough already to form a tolerably accu rate estimate of the nature of the crowning success of the allied armies in Schleswig. The Danish posi tion on the mainland was taken, some 2,000 of the defenders made prisoners, and probably double that number placed hors ds combat. That the victory was dearly purchased, the returns from the Prussian camp sufficiently prove ; but the loss of the allies, however great, can in no perceptible degree impair the efficiency of their army. The Danes were over whelmed by numbers, and have now to mourn these heavy losses which are inseparable from a re treat conducted under such adverse circumstances as theirs. The Danish Government do nut affect to question the severity of the blow which has fallen on them. The bombardment so long and persis tently maintained by the besiegers completely de molished the redoubts on the left of the Danish position, and when the order for assault was given, the troops which defended what was still left of the dismantled fortification were compelled to fall back with great loss. As soon as the redoubts on the left were taken by the assailants the evacuation of those on the right became a necessity. Then com menced a cruel carnage. The greater portion of four Danish regiments was annihilated. The tete de Pont, exposed to the heaviest fire of the Prussian artillery, was obstinately held by a detachment of the Danish m i . :es, whilst such of the remainder as were able effected their retreat into the Island of Alsen. Finally, the be.:"ltee itself was destroyed, and those Danes who still ;emu:ed on the mainland became prisoners of war. That the retreat was disastrous is only too evident ; but the fact ts: at the vanquished were enabled to carry with them one is. flidred dead and eight hundred wounded, would seem t, Sh°B °, that it was not ill conducted. The Danes reti e d when to have remained would have been madness, but they retired slowly and deliberately, still fighting with their faces to the enemy. From the latest telegrams we learn that the insulation of the Danish army in Alsen has not put an end to hosti lities. The allies have demanded the evacuation of Sonderburg and the strongly entrenched position in its rear. That is to say, they require the evacua tion of the island. If the German troops succeed in effecting a landing in Alsen, the Danish army will have no alternative between capitulateon and a withdrawal to Zealand or Funen. • To abandon Sonderburg and thus afford to the allies the oppor tunity of crossing the Alsen Sound unmolested, would virtually be to deliver up the island. This step, however, the Danes are scarcely prepared to take. It would be idle to suppose that they can for any considerable length of time maintain the:: present position, but they will doubtless, as in the case of Duppel, retain it as long as they can. Sonderburg will be again bombarded, and the Danish and German artillery will exchange vol!eys across the narrow strait which separates Alsen from the mainland. The Danish positior, however, is strong, and its capture will probably cost the invaders heavier losses and a greater expenditure of time than they at present imagine. The capture of Duppel has at all events enabled the latter to employ elsewhere the forces which have hitherto been engaged in siege operations. Already a considerable portion of the troops has been despatched northwards, with the object of reducing Fredericia and occupying Jut land. If such should be the future plan of the cam paign, it is difficult to see what obstacles the Danes will be enabled to offer to its accomplishment; Fre dericia is by no means as strong es was the position at Duppel, and, with a comparatively small garri son, could not hope long to withstand the attack of such a force as their recent success will now enable the allies to employ for its reduction. The war was commenced with the alleged object of securing pos session of Schleswig as a material guarantee for the fulfilment by Denmark of certain engagements, but now it would seem that Jutland is to be secured es a pledge for the repayment to the German Powers of the heavy expenses occasioned by the war. Proeeeding iu this line of argument there is no reason why, before the war is ended, the German Powers should not require the sequestration of the entire kingdom of Denmark. TIMES.—The public at large will not enter with very keen interest into the passage of armsbetween Mr. Sheridan and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the question as to what reduction of the Fire Insurance Duty would best fit in with the Budget. It is a question that only concerns this year, and any one year is so likely to be disturbed by unex pected causes that a difference of a hundred thousand pounds or two is not felt to be the real turning point of a financial proposition. Nor, again, is the public at large patriotic enough, and indif ferent enough to personal interest, to enter as it ought into the likelihood of one reduction recover ing itself more than another. On this point, how ever, the House of Commons ought to be, and probably is, disposes to take the financial view of the question. So it accepted Mr. Gladstone's pro position by a decided majority. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has given his usual intensity of con sideration to the subject, and has estimated with almost a painful accuracy the respectively reproduc tive powers of various degrees of reduction in the duty on the insurance of stock-in-trade. It is a point in which we will not venture to cope with so great a master. We take his estimates on trust, though we cannot help investing them with a high conjecs tural character. Now that the house has decided, and our opinion cannot be of the least consequence, we will venture to say that we cannot get over the unfairness of distinguishing between houses and stock-in-trade, and that we therefore think a good deal was to be said in favour of Mr. Sheridan's pro posal, always supposing it to square with the rest of the Budget. House property is very heavily taxed, for it pays tax upon tax, and rate upon rate, to the utmost of its endurance. A house is taxed and sated because it is fixed and cannot escape ; because its value can be ascertained, and the figures stand in the books for a good many years ; because the occupier and owner can be easily got at and aro responsible persons. But these are considerations of convenience, not justice. The convenience, too, is financial. A house is easily taxed and rated. The result is inconvenient, for it often leads to the building of a lower class of houses, instead of a higher, the rates and taxes on the hither class of houses amounting to a second reni. So, when a house pays Property Tax, Inha bited Duty, Poor Rate, Church R a t e , P o li ce Rate, County mate, and a few other R a t es , we cou ld never see why it is to pay the State a further tax of, we will say, 30s, a :earupon a rental of £5O, because it is insured against e — that is, because its owner is a little more prudent then his neighbours. There is sometimes a reason wore cogent than any that appears, which, nevertheless, it 1: not con venient to insist on. We could fancy we detec.! e 11 . 0 a latent, though not less important, motive in 111 .!* • Gladstone's selection of stockein-trade for special indulgence. The agriculturists have long ago ob tained the entire remission of their stock-in-trade, on the ground that it was for the interest of the public that they should be encouraged to insure against fire, and so balk the malice of the rick burners. But it is difficult to maintain a line between one description of stock-in-trade and another, and the distillation is a hardship to the trading community. It was half swept away last night, and will probably disappear altogether as soon as the Caancellor of the Exchequer is able to reduce the duty as it affects house property. The whole duty is condemned on principle, and only waits the convenience of the financier. It never had any justification, except that of necessity, which prompted our War Ministers to get at money whenever and wherever they could, and clutch a percentage out of every transaction within the cog nizance of the law. The Chancellor of the Exche quer of those days saw in this instance nothing but a property to be taxed, persons to pay the tax, money passing from hand to hand, the income of the insurer, and the capital of the company. So, stepping in between the parties, he seized a handful of the money on the table, upon no other plea than that it was there and he wanted it. REMARKABLY RAPID PASSAGE OF THE NEW CHINA CLIPPER CARACTACUS.—This vessel, built by Messrs. R. and J. Evans and Co., and own3d by Messrs. E. C. Friend and Co., of this town, and which is commanded by Captain Twiss, left this port on the 29th of January last, bound for Shanghae. She experienced very heavy weather and adverse wiL - ds for the first week, but on the 29th of February, being the 23d day from leaving Tuskar, she had reached lat. 15 S, long. 33 W, when she spoke the brigantine Chance, from Rio Janeiro for this port. This is one of the quickest passag.s to the south of the Equator that we remember.--Liverpool Journal of Commerce. [ADVERTISEMENT.]--Consumption, all nervous, bilious, liver, and stomach complaints, iu every stage, are only ag gravated and accelerated by drugs of every description, but perfecdy curable by Du Barry's health restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, as proved by thousands of cases which nad been considered hopeless. We quote a few.—Cure No. 62,914. Miss Lange, 18 years of age, cured after the medical men had abandoned all hopes of her recovery from the last stage of pulmonary consumption, with fearful cough, expectoration, exhaustion, spitting of blood, perspirations, hollow cheeks, emaciated to a skeleton. She is now, thank God, a perfectly healthy, blooming, fleshy girl.—N. Lange, Commissaire de Police. Cure, No. 46,270. Mr. James Roberts, of Frini ley Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and partial deafness.—Cure, No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure, No. 54,816. The Rev. James T. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfolk, of indigestion and torpidity of the liver, which had resisted all medical reatment. In tins, 11b, 2s 9d; 21b, 45 6d; 51b, lls ; 121 b, 225; 241 b, 40s. Barry du Barry and Ca., No. 77, degent-street, London ; also Fortnum and Mason; and all grocers and chemists in every town of the United iiingdom. HEALTH OF THE METROPOLIS, (From the Re . ,7t;ttrar-General's Weekly Regan.) The number of deal, 'is in London in the week that ended on Saturday was 1,52b'. of which 765 occurred wider 20 years of age, 447 at 201, nd under 60 years, and 295 at 60 years of age and upwards. The average number, in the 15t week of ten years 1854-63 it with a correction for increase _ of population, 1,364. The rah.' of mortality is the refore still high for the season, the actual is umber of deaths exceeding by 159 the number calculated on last experience. Nineteen deaths were referred to , small-pox, 55 to measles! 44 to scarlatina, 13 to diphtheria, 60 t'o whooping-CORghtang 59 to typhus. Six children died of rat,asles in the Ken ning ' ton let sub-district. In the Green sul•-district of Be thnal " green, there were 3 deaths from measles, 2 from sca rlatina, 2 from diphtheria,and 2 from typhus ; in the town sub-dis trict there were five deaths from scarlatin a. There were five deaths from injury by horse conveyances; Seven persons died at the age of 90 years and upwards, th a oldest of whom were two widows at the a,r,e of 95 years. Four children died of scarlatina in o tie Anil,' a t 20, To wnshend-road, Marylebone, three on tho 10th and °I/9 on the 11th inst. A labourer,:aged 50 years, died in St. Luke's Workhouses on the 17th of March, of " typhus with destitution." A watch finisher, aged 68 years, was found dead on I , " 3d instant at 22, Lower Northampton-street, Clerkenwell, from effusion on the brain, accelerated by want of food' II Last week the births of 1,039 b o y s a nd 933 girls, in II" 1,972 children, were registered in London. In than ten cor responding weeks of the years 1864-63 th e ave rage numb er (corrected) was 2,029. METROPOLITAN WATERS IN MARCH, 1864. The waters of London during March, according the analyses of Dr. Robert Dundas Thomson, F.R.S ., )31 , 1 :, ° been much more impure than i n th e p rece ding la nu " . ; especially in referenc e t o th e Amoun t o f mat t ers of org an ' .' origin which they contain. These have been obvionsli washed down by the rains from the surface drainage; as it is found that after heavy rain drains and sewers are gashed,. sir ; i these deposits carried into the Jivers which receive their outfall. For the sake of comparison the composition of well i s given containing much sewage. Total Impurity OrgP ic per gallon. Puri t c rd gm. or deg, grs. or co. Distilled Water O-0 0 . 0 Loch Katrine water, new supply to Glasgow '6 os Manchester water supply Well, Newton, Wisbeach B5 84 11" 81 THAMES COMPANIES. Southwark Lambeth Grand Junction 2 2 .08 2' 6 West Middlesex 2l•l* 310 Chelsea OTHER COMPANIES. Kent East London New River The table is read thus—Loch Katrine water contains /11 the gallon 2•35 degrees or grains of foreign matter in solOoll. of which *BO5 degrees or grains are of vegetable or origin. At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean he l l! /1 of the barometer in the week was 29.800 in. The reading was 30.05 in on Sunday, and fell to 29 . 541 n on Friday. The mean temperature of the air in the week was 48.9 deg, is 3.6 deg above the average of the same week in 43 Ye ar (as determined by Mr. Glaisher). On three days the Me al ' daily temperature was from 6 deg to 8 deg above the ev 6 " rage. The lowest night temperature was 33.4 deg. on nesday. The highest day temperature was 68 . 5 deg on day. The range in the week w a s the r ef o re 35.1 deg. T he mean daily range was 18 . 5 deg. The difference between the, mean dew-point temperature and air temperature was ' deg. The mean degree of humidity of the air was 76, co pleta saturation being represented by 100, which point /v nearly approached on Saturday, thou g h on the day previnu .... the humidity had fallen to 61. The general direction of the wind was northerly, on the first three days; on Wedneel and Thursday it was ea s t, and afterwards south-east e nd south-west. The rain in the week was only 0.06 inch. V ie mean of the highest temperatures of the water of the Then° was 51 . 2 deg ; that of the lowest 48.1 deg. COUNTRY MARKETS. BIRMINGHAM—THURSDAY. There was a good supply of wheat to-day, and Engli sh sorts met a dull sale, at is per qr decline on previous 41 tations. Foreign wheat is 6d cheaper . Barley nnalter e Oats and beans rather ad` anted iu price. Peas ruled d'il" —English wheat was sold at 40s to 46s for white, and ‘).„`"" to 43s per 36 atone for red. Barley, new malting, 309 38s per qr; grinding, 24s to 28s Oats, old, 22s to 30 0 per 30 stone; Irish, 18s to 245. Beans, 34s to 40s per ( In Peas, 32s to 42s per 36 stone. BURTON- ON•rTRENT—THURSDAY. A good show of grain at our market, and prices were 10 per qr lower, but a dull demand. Oats brisk, and beans tally maintained late rates. Old white wheat..42s to 45s 1 Old red wheat , to 43i New do. .. 41s to 45 s I New do. 36s to 400 Malting barley....32s to 36s I Oats 19e to 2 86 Grinding d0.....27s to 30s I Beans 36s to VA MANCHESTER—THURSDAY. and A very slender attendance at our market to-day, s , English wheat met with a limited rale, at is p er (pla te " cheaper, while toreign was neglected, at 2d per aenial re &tenon. Flour a veil' slow sale, and prices about non:lint Oata and oatmeal were steady. English beans the tar'" higher in value, but Egyptian were unaltered. Indian coin easier to purchase. BRISTOL—THURSDAY. English wheat in moderate supply this morning, about. the currency a this day week. Foreign met with an exceedingly stow demand. Fine malting barley firm, grinding sorts in limited sale, and at about former ra t e s. Oats scarce, and late prices were maintained. Fur ma ize very little inquiry. Beans and peas no inquiry. and at EDINBURGH GRAIN—APRIL 20. To•-day there was a fair supply of wheat, which wet a slow sale at about last week's prices. Wheat on the top is Od up average is 3d uP• • Barley on the top Is 6d down average Oa 5d up• Oats on the top Is 6d d0wn...... average Os 2d uP• Beans on the top Cs Gd up. average Os 2d uP. Ave' age Prices. Os 5 a Wheat 3Bs 6d I Oats. 2 qj Barley 3ls 4d Beans as - Total Supply and Sales. Wheat .. 884 qrs Sold 637 qrs Barley... 647 qrs Sold 464 qrs Oats Beans 305 qrs Sold 236 qrs A , Flour sells as follo ws : —Whit es , 39 s Od ; ex t ras , 37s t'''' superfine, 35s Od ; fine, 33s Od. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS...OI.E. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton ..May 19 ' via Marseilles .. May 1 3 ' .irazil and Cape Verde, by British packet. Mav 4 ' n 27. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. Apra China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton.MaY.h 6. via Marseilles ...April '`' Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton April 26. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton MaY. 2 n g. via Marseilles April India (Bombay), via Southampton .. April 'k via Marseilles April 21 ' Portuga1.... Malta, Egypt, and Adon, via Southampton April l 2 ' via Marseilles April ,Newfoundland .. , May 11 ' Opoto and Vigo U. S. and British N. ALuerica, by Brit. packet.... Apr i l by U.S. packet.... ~ 4, by Canadian packet.Apru ` W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe .. April --'• Bahamas, via New York May O a ' Mexico.. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, J Apr il 25 , . California. and British Columbia.. Persons who have been in the habit of paying weekly borrowers of Sewing Machines will do well to apply at 00 and become members of Messrs. Watts and Co.'s Sewing Machine Clubs. By so doing they will not only save the money they now foolishly throw away, but at the same time secure to themselves the possession of one of the best a n l most celebrated sewing machines in the world. Every in formation given on application; or by letter addressed, Wit h a stamped envelope, to Messrs. Watts and Co., 12, Beaufor.- buildings, Strand, London, W.C., where mere rs are rolled daily between 10 and 4; Saturdays, i 0 ant.: Births. HANDCOCK—On the 19th inst., at 14, Dawson-greet/ Dublin, the Hon. Mrs. HancicoCk, of a Son. HILL—Oa the 21st inst., at Bayswater, the wife of Georg e Hill, Esq., of a son. Pocuirr--At Braunstone House, near Leicester, the wife of Ralph George Pochin, Etq., of a son. YATES.—On the 18th inst., at Colney Vicarage, MI: the wile of Lieut.-Colonel H. Pal Yates, ILA.) t" daughter. Marriages. BOLTON—IRELAND—On the 20th inst., at Saint George t l- Hanover-square, Richard George olton, Esq. late. the the Royal Horse Guards (Blue), to Beatrice,third'datigl'a ter of tne late Thomas James Ireland, Esq of Outid e Hall, Suffolk. EVERSHED—FIELD—On the 20th inst., at the ‘i'• - • o f Royal, rower of Loudon, Arthur Evershed, Autpthill, Bedfordshire, to Mary Hester Katharine, • eldest daughter of Henry W. Field, Esq., of her NO" ty's Mint. Deaths. HARRISON—On the 20th inst., at Braintree, Ens"' J®h S Harrison, Esq., aged 77. HEM P. Hemp son, So)N—Onsothne, 14.R.e.v 17th inst ~ s ., aged atD 30. Derby-street, 4 s troet, AlaY fas Mr. C a lcutta MILLS—On the 19th March, at 29, Theatre-road, ; the Hon. Henry Mills, Q.C. , ono of he r Majesty's Judge of the High Court, and one of the Masters of th e Bench of the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple, aged 46. MONTGOMERIE—On the 19th inst. a t a t St. Leonar d's. nn' Sea, Robert Montgomerie, of Cr aig House, Ayrshire , aed 5. RO g GIER 7 —On the 20th inst., at Surbiton, Lieut. Edward field, Rcgier, R.N., aged 65. eld SEABROOR—On the 20th inst., at Old Lodge, Spring— ' John A.. Seabrook, Esq., aged 22. et Wiropole-stre I SCUDAMORE—On the 18th inst., at 6 , Lady Scudatnore, aged 80. • • London: Pri.t.';,‘A and Prblished by WILLIAITANDI.OI of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SIIN Office No ' . of 12, Strand, In the Precinct of the 'Savoy, it the CounY ril -22, 1564.